For a moment, press your mental rewind button and recall Kamini Kaushal (or Sulochana) in a film from the 1960s, pedalling away relentlessly at a sewing machine. She pushes away a strand of hair from her sweaty brow as Rajendra Kumar bounds in brandishing a degree certificate and announces, “Maa, main first-class-first aa gaya!” Upon which she says tiredly, “Beta, ab ghar me ek bahu lao, toh main teerth yatra pe chali jaaun.”
Even assuming her son was a slow learner, the mother couldn’t have been more than in her 50s, right? Certainly not the 89-year-old she appeared to be! Of course, in those days it was assumed you aged early, and were expected to head off into the sunset as soon as your children’s libido turned active. Ah well, I guess no one introduced that celluloid mama to a Sarika or a Kitu Gidwani, who look more gorgeous than most women half their age.
But then for some time now, the idea of India’s ‘demographic dividend’ has been converted into an implicit assumption that it is no country for old men. Including by marketers, who seem unwilling to look at the opportunities represented by a slightly older demographic than the one encompassed by the term ‘adolescent’. To be sure, they do address the older parties—for pension plans, digestive aids, select ayurvedic formulations and knee replacement therapy. For other, less obviously geriatric products and services, from premium fabrics to fine watches to expensive cars to designer apparel, though, one only sees young men and women in ads.
Of course, in an age obsessed with looking young, in which injecting a chemical into your skin to stop all sensation is considered a smart move, it would seem obvious to focus on a younger target group. Never mind that the twentysomething in the premium suiting ad looks like he doesn’t know the difference between a tuxedo and an albedo. And the one in the wealth management commercial looks like he’s wandered into the wrong studio.
If only marketers would pause, though, they’d see that while the young stud has the bulging biceps, it’s the 45-year-old who has the bulging wallet. Let us follow this citizen, his wife and his wallet around for a bit.
The Wealth: He is the one sitting in the executive class of the aircraft, while the others squeeze themselves into what is colloquially (and twit-like) called ‘cattle class’. He is the one picked up by the chauffeured Mercedes, while most others look for a pre-paid cab. On arrival, as the car pulls away, he reaches for his premium BlackBerry and checks out the e-mails. He reaches his six-bedroom bungalow in the plush part of town, and heads into his Kohler-equipped bathroom. He showers, slips into his Brioni jacket and heads off to a city hotel for a meeting with his collaborators.
A while later, on his way to the meeting in the five-star hotel, he passes a bunch of fans in the lobby, crowding around Shahrukh Khan for autographs. None of the fans is unaware that srk is into his 40s. As is Aamir Khan, another youth icon. And as the McDonald’s ads say, they are lovin’ it. At the end of the business-over-lunch, he puts the tab on his
fine-metal credit card (Titanium futures, anyone?) and signs off with his Mont Blanc.
The women and the wine: J. Paul Getty, then one of the world’s richest men, once said, “If there were no women, there would be no point in being rich.” Later, in the evening, our protagonist and his wife get ready to attend a reception for the visiting literary award winner from London. She slips into a Givenchy and picks up her Louis Vuitton as they leave for the soiree. They note the beauty who has leaped nimbly from the pages of the swimwear calendar on to the arm of a man in his 50s. They savour canapes topped with caviar and sip wine, the price tag of which is such that, for the price of a couple of bottles, you could acquire a small suburban flat.
The wisdom: And finally, our hero returns home after the festivities, sits in his verandah with a fine liqueur, and mulls over the truth of the simple arithmetic that a person who has been earning for 20-something years is likely to earn more than one who is 20-something years old. It is in the fitness of things that age ought to have some compensation, he reflects. And he remembers a couplet from his college days:
The only difference between men and boys,
Is the higher cost of the former’s toys.
Amen.
(Anand Halve is the co-founder of Chlorophyll Brand & Communications Consultancy.)
